What constitutes a Fake or Counterfeit item?

Goods are consideredcounterfeitif they haveapoor quality, withaname that sounds similar toafamous brandortheitemdesign mimics the original brand’s design.Counterfeitgoods sellers mainly encroach on the trademark, the patent of the design by passing its own goodsexactly similar to the original one.

Is it against the Law?Yes, it is prohibited to sell thecounterfeitproducts. The national criminal laws disallow all from trafficking thecounterfeitgoodsorany services. This not only applies to counterfeiter but also to any companyorindividual that intentionally sells and promotescounterfeitproducts.

Impact on the World EconomyAstudy that primarily focuses on infringement of trademarks, copyrights, patents, and design rights that follows and completes an earlier study from the OECD which was published in the year 2008.

The main findings were:

From records of the world trade in 2013, it was seen that the international trade of counterfeit,fake, pirated and second-hand items take up toavalue of 2.5%.

China stands tall asthe largestfakegoods-producing economy.

There has been a significant increase in the use of small shipments. The sellers of counterfeit items use this medium. This is also increasing due to the surge in e-commerce. This medium reduced the risk of getting tracked and thus getting caught.

A product can be considered “Counterfeit” if:

The items directly mimic brand product orlogo.

The items are sold under aname that sounds similaroris identical to the original brand they are copying from.

Items that look like abrandorlogo.

Items that mimic brand designs orpatterns.

Items that display brand names in product photos.

How to spot aGenuine product?The best protection is to know the product. But there are always some loopholes which can help us identify thefake.
For instance, if the product is unusually cheap, crookedly stitched with low-quality materials, the dimensions that don’t match with the standard ones we can just stop and ask ourselves why is it so, and there you go, your answer lie there! It is alwaysagood idea to read the customer reviews and feedbacks before buying anything.